Vell I never... Cor­rie Michael on town

COR­RIE vet­eran Michael Le Vell en­joys a rare night out with his co-stars – after he swapped booz­ing for horse rid­ing.

The bearded ac­tor, who plays me­chanic Kevin Web­ster, was the “life and soul” at The Al­chemist in Manch­ester as cast mem­bers cel­e­brated land­ing five gongs at the In­side Soap Awards.

Co-stars in­clud­ing Sair Khan, 29, Alan Hal­sall, 35, and Brooke Vin­cent, 25, joined him. A source said: “Michael is re­ally bor­ing these days and rarely comes out. Nor­mally he goes straight home from work or is horse rid­ing. But he wanted to cel­e­brate with his col­leagues who are also close friends. They had a great time.”

Four years ago Michael, 52, said he had 12-pint-a-night lager ad­dic­tion. He re­turned to the ITV soap after a spell in re­hab and in 2014 said he was get­ting sober.

He took up rid­ing and last year do­nated £1,000 to save a sick horse at An­gel’s Res­cue Cen­tre in Mac­cles­field, where he reg­u­larly vol­un­teers with his girl­friend Louise Gib­bons, 39. The cou­ple’s re­la­tion­ship has stepped up a gear and he has been telling pals she is “the one”.

One said: “Michael is loving life. Horse rid­ing has helped im­mensely and his re­la­tion­ship with Louise is re­ally strong.”